What is the total number of emails you have sent out at the DA?

How many digits do I have at my disposal? How many zeros are in a zillion? I think 106n comes close …

What is your favourite spot at the Academy?

The billiard table and the Tipsy Weasel rock!

If you could change one thing about the DA what would you choose?

Nothing—it’s perfect, of course! But usually students provide me with plenty of ideas …

What was the best meal you ever had at the DA’s dining room?

My Granny’s handmade tagliatelle! … dream meals are included in this question, aren’t they?!?

What was the best student event you have ever attended at the DA and why?

Any day between September and June at the DA, when for me the atmosphere is peculiar and every day is unpredictable. However, if I had to choose something specific, then two moments pop into my mind: musicals written, directed, staged and performed by students—all of them were refreshingly spontaneous, outrageously smart and simply great fun! And then, the famous exam session when all students sat through “Principles of Microeconomics” wearing a bow-tie: priceless!

What advice would you give new DA students before they start at the Academy?

Again, the issue with available digits makes this complicated! I’ll do my best to re-cap:
• Be yourself, think differently
• Beware of rumour and gossip! Especially the kind starting with “I have heard that”, “other students say”
• Enjoy your studies: this is one of the (very) few non-zero-sum-games of your adult life
• Be critical and pro-active
• Please, help us prove that the goldfish attention span rule is just a myth
• last but not least, don’t forget that a healthy sense of humour will work wonders!

What advice would you give DA students after finishing their studies?

• Be yourself, choose the path you like—basically: be brave
• Embrace changes & be flexible
• Don’t forget that established structures can (and sometimes ought to) be changed
• “!” is good, but “?” is better …
• Don’t forget your home in Vienna: the DA ;-)